Page 25 of The Fault Between Us
It most certainly did bug her. Bridget said goodnight to Beckett. “Oh,” Bridget said before she shut the door to her room, “I just remembered something I wanted to ask you.”
“Sure, what?” the younger nurse said.
“Larkin told me to always have a park ranger along when we go on calls after dark, and she was quite adamant. Why?”
Beckett’s face fell and she looked away. “Oh, that.”
“What?” Bridget felt a tremor of unease.
“That’s because of Patsy and Sylvia.”
“The nurses that left?” She’d seen their names on some of the records from last month. Bridget was surprised that Beckett used their first names, since it was common practice for nurses to use last names both on and off the floor.
“They didn’t leave,” Beckett said. “But... well, it’s maybe not something you want to hear on your first day.”
“What?” Bridget folded her arms. If it was about the job, she needed to know.
Beckett looked down at the cracked floor. “The thing is, they got called out to the cabins over by the camping area—I mean, Sylvia did. One of the guests had a sprained ankle and needed a compression wrap. Sylvia took the kit and said she’d just run it over, quick as a wink. By herself.” Beckett’s voice dropped.
Bridget felt a chill travel up her neck and prickle over her scalp. She suddenly didn’t want to know about Sylvia and Patsy.
“When she didn’t come back, Patsy went to look for her.” Beckett’s voice was choked with emotion. “We didn’t think anything of it.” She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “They were such sweet girls. Patsy was engaged to be married.”
Bridget’s legs went wobbly and she put a hand on the doorframe to steady herself. “What happened?”
“It was a grizzly.” Beckett looked up, and Bridget saw the younger nurse’s eyes were full of tears. “Some campers left their garbage out and Sylvia must have surprised the bear in the dark.” She swiped at her cheek. “Sylvia was dead when the rangers got there. We got Patsy back to the hospital, but we couldn’t save her.”
“Oh, no.” Bridget felt as if the room was tilting sideways. How awful. “I’m so sorry, Beckett.”
Beckett nodded her head, accepting Bridget’s woefully inadequate sympathy. “Goodnight, Reilly. See you tomorrow.”
Bridget shut her door, stomach churning. A simple call for a sprained ankle and two nurses dead in a horrible way. Here she’d thought it a stroke of luck she got the job at Mammoth in the middle of the summer, but it wasn’t luck, it was tragedy. A terrible tragedy in this dreadful place.
She looked at her suitcases, yet to be unpacked. She could go home—back to the civilized world where bears didn’t lurk in the dark. Where there weren’t boiling pools and sharp-horned animals around every corner.
She sat down on the hard bed. She couldn’t leave. If she left now, she’d never get hired at the Mayo. And what about Claire? She had to convince Claire to come home, where she and Jenny would be safe. She knelt down on the hard floor and made the sign of the cross. She prayed reluctantly for Frannie, and more fervently for Claire. She added a final prayer for the families of Sylvia and Patsy, even though she had never met them.
Then she prayed for herself.Dear Lord, help me to keep my promise to Dad. Help me to get Claire and Jenny home, with or without Red.
chapter 15:CLAIRE
Claire woke from her nap to Jenny babbling happily in her crib and Red frying up a dinner of trout and potatoes.
She was still annoyed at Frannie, and how she’d made poor Jenny miserable, but she felt terrible about blowing up the way she did. She’d wanted Bridget to see how happy she was here with Red. Instead, her visit had been one disaster after another. She hated to think what Bridget would report back to Dad. When she came out of the bedroom with Jenny in her arms, she gave Frannie a side hug and told her she was sorry.
Frannie actually mumbled a return apology.
Red was quiet, but after the dishes were done he gave her a serious look. “Let’s take a walk to the river.”
Was he going to apologize for being such a bear to her sisters? Not that she blamed him when it came to Bridget. How could she have forgotten how snippy her sister could be?
Frannie sprawled on the couch where Jenny was propped with a rattle. “I’ll play with the little whippersnapper while you two lovebirds take a walk.”
Claire looked doubtfully at Frannie. She hadn’t proven herself terribly trustworthy with the baby. “I’ll just be down the trail if you need me.”
Red took Claire’s hand as they walked to the river. The setting sun turned the water of the Madison to gold and silver. On the far side of the river, a red-tailed hawk circled the grassy meadow, landing high on a dead branch like a star on a Christmas tree. Claire felt a lifting of her spirits that had weighed her down since she got Bridget’s letter—or even before that, when she’d heard about Dell. The beauty of the out-of-doors always did that for her. She just had to remember to open her eyes and see it.
With Red’s rough, calloused hand in hers, she felt closer to him. Close enough to ask him about Dell, and what he was hiding from her. Then she could tell him again how sorry she was about Marigold.
